Subscription not working correctly

The subscriber/Follow widget on my blog is not working correctly. I tested it by typing in my email address (different than the one I signed up with) and it sent me the confirmation email. However, when I clicked in the email to confirm the subscriber/follower email, it doesn't not include me as a follower in the blog. The confirmation email leads me back to the blog home page, but doesn't accept me as a follower. Also, I am not receiving emails when a new blog is published. This is also happening to others, who said they want to follow the blog, but it is preventing them form confirming the following request and they have not received any emails when the blog post are published.